Power-washing the patio is acceptable if motivated by health-and-safety concerns to blast away potentially slippery moss, for example.

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The process of preventing such contamination requires first a thorough power-washing (which can take up to an hour) followed by an inspection of the cleaned gear (which can take considerably more than an hour, depending on the complexity of the equipment).

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We saw a number of Electric Imp demos and appliance ideas at the booth including a simple hand-held "detonator" toggle switch with LED, seven-segment counter, water level sensor, servo-controlled gauge, RGB light, power socket, Christmas light, power monitor, toy washing machine, 16x16 LED display and receipt printer (the latter two being combined to show the avatars and tweets of anyone mentioning the Electric Imp) -- all Internet aware.

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The former requires a greater amount of water for power generation while the latter still needs water but for washing solar panels periodically.

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